Shogun 2: Total War - New Battle Report gameplay vid now online!

[CraigTW]

Hi guys.

I just posted this on the TotalWar.com forums, but thought you guys might like to see it too.

Fans have been asking to see more in-game action from Shogun 2: Total War, so that's exactly what we've put together.

Our Land Battle Programmer Ingimar Gudmunsson and Communications Manager Kieran Brigden talk you through an epic night time battle, as the Chosokabe clan take on the Takeda clan.

As a storm rages and lightning flashes from the sky, we get a look at some of the units available to you in Shogun 2: Total War, as well as some of their unique abilities.

The video will demonstrate some of the new graphics technology integrated into Shogun 2: Total War, including new lighting, accurate fire and building damage simulation and rainfall effects. The video also demonstrates the sheer scale of the castles you can expect to encounter during Shogun 2 battles.

With fire archers raining down arrows on the Chosokabe and an epic hand-to-hand engagement on the battlefield showing off some of the new motion-captured animations in Shogun 2, who will prosper in this winner-takes-all battle?

Watch the video now to find out! (http://bit.ly/aESHHi)


Thanks,

CraigTW
The Creative Assembly

[Kas]

me like a lot! :smiley2:

[Monk]

Thanks a lot for the link, Craig!

Thoughts:

It looks very similar to the battle we saw from Gamescom, only much higher in quality and a lot better info in regards to unit identity and behavior. Since we've seen this a few times played out: Is this a historical battle that is scripted, or was this a custom battle put together to display various aspects?

The "battle report" vids have vastly improved in quality since ETW. Iinstead of watching you guys play the game you're simply playing it and giving us off-screen commentary. That lets us focus 100% on the game, i like it a lot.

I have to admit, i am really hoping that is pure AI behavior there and not results of a single scripted event. Very good line cohesion from the AI Takeda with covering fire provided.

[CraigTW]

Thanks a lot for the link, Craig!

Thoughts:

It looks very similar to the battle we saw from Gamescom, only much higher in quality and a lot better info in regards to unit identity and behavior. Since we've seen this a few times played out: Is this a historical battle that is scripted, or was this a custom battle put together to display various aspects?

The "battle report" vids have vastly improved in quality since ETW. Iinstead of watching you guys play the game you're simply playing it and giving us off-screen commentary. That lets us focus 100% on the game, i like it a lot.

I have to admit, i am really hoping that is pure AI behavior there and not results of a single scripted event. Very good line cohesion from the AI Takeda with covering fire provided.

Thanks for the nice comments, guys.

Monk, as you sharply noticed, this is the same night-time battle from Gamescom, but we've featured a bit more depth and detail to help you get a feel for the game as though you were playing it yourself.

Stuff like tighter line cohesion and better unit tactics are undergoing a lot of focus at the moment to make sure we absolutely nail it in Shogun 2. As you can see from the video, we're getting there!

Again, just a reminder that this is very early pre-alpha footage, so we've got a way to go yet!

[Monsieur Alphonse]

This is the same or almost the same battle as shown before at some games convention (i forgot its name). It looks of course fantastic but I hope that they will show us some daytime battles. At the moment I don't see any superior AI. I hope that this guy from Island will do some miracles.

[Sp00n]

Yes many thanks for keeping us up to date Craig, a much better resolution of the presentation than we had from a previous post, watched it with no sound at work, will watch again later. Does look stunning already, weather in particular (I can almost forgive you guys for making us wait 10 years for Shogun 2), nice to see some of the old favourites.

Yaris, Sam Archers, Heavy Cav and No Dachi I saw.

Can't wait, just please give us a MP lobby like the original, sorry had to get that one in :P

I get more excited by the day and please post any further updates in the future.

[Monk]

Thanks for the nice comments, guys.

Monk, as you sharply noticed, this is the same night-time battle from Gamescom, but we've featured a bit more depth and detail to help you get a feel for the game as though you were playing it yourself.

Stuff like tighter line cohesion and better unit tactics are undergoing a lot of focus at the moment to make sure we absolutely nail it in Shogun 2. As you can see from the video, we're getting there!

Again, just a reminder that this is very early pre-alpha footage, so we've got a way to go yet!

Thanks for the quick reply, Craig - can't wait to see what you guys deliver. :bow:

[Gregoshi]

Very nicely done and good commentary. I think we'd all love to see more of these kinds of videos showing off the AI and other features of the battlefield as the game developes. Craig, the thing I'm most pleased to see is the prolonged unit vs unit combat which will allow the player to utilize maneauver tactics, such as the cavalry flanking shown in the video. :2thumbsup: I also liked the AI archer ambush as well. The map was not only gorgeous to look at, but had a variety of terrain features to make the battle interesting. Yeah, judging by my racing heart, I'm excited.

[ReluctantSamurai]

Not sure if this feature was available in ETW or NTW (as I have played neither), but it appears you can "draw out" multiple units with a single click, instead of having to do each unit individually.

My apologies if I've simply missed this feature by not having played any recent releases.

At any rate, looking awesome, so far!

:bow:

[Kagemusha]

Thank you for sharing this with us CraigTW.:bow: I am loving what i am seeing in the vid. In this early phase already i am seeing level of detail i am happy about. Like the large Nobori flags carried by the infantry formations. One thing i would suggest to try out would be to make the colour of armour less uniform. You have already the Nobori Flags, the sashimono flags on the back of the samurai and ashigarus. which makes it easy for players to identify their own and enemy units. During the period the "units" if that is a right word, were not very uniformed at all, apart from few execptions, like the "fire cavalry" of Yamagata Masakage of the Takeda Clan, or Il Naomasa´s red devils a third execption being the Date army under Date Masamune.

Dont get me wrong as this is in no way complaining, but a simple suggestion to maybe test how a unit would look like with different coloured body armours and lacings inside a unit. Ofcourse if it wouldnt be working it should not be used.

Apart from my rambling.Great job!Cant wait to see more!

[Motep]

pretty

[Monsieur Alphonse]

Not sure if this feature was available in ETW or NTW (as I have played neither), but it appears you can "draw out" multiple units with a single click, instead of having to do each unit individually.

My apologies if I've simply missed this feature by not having played any recent releases.

At any rate, looking awesome, so far!

:bow:

That draw feature has been possible in earlier TW titles as well. You can do it in RTW and M2TW. I can't say anything about earlier titles because I haven't played those.

[Magyar Khan]

very impressive i must say but what bugs me a bit is that the fire arrows take a lot of attention , they look like flying pikes especially just before the land on the ground...... they are a bit to big...

remember as important the zoomed in detail is for you in promoting the game, the important is the zoomed out gameplay for us..... still it is awesoms to see.... especially when u compare it to previous sprite-versions of TW.... see the battle vs GiljaySmith in my signature.... :o)

[Tomisama]

the important is the zoomed out gameplay for us

This is really "the point" that we need to press in on with CA.

The idea that these games should have the close-up appeal of a first-person-shooter is so far off the mark for those who actually play them.

To be as positive as I can about it; a nice sales tool, but totally useless to the RTS gamer...

Hiya Maggy :bow:

[ReluctantSamurai]

That draw feature has been possible in earlier TW titles as well.

The "draw out" feature has been available since the original STW, but you had to draw out each unit, one at a time. In the video, it looks to me that you can draw multiple units at the same time...which would be a vast improvement.

Again, my apologies if this was a feature included in recent TW releases, and I'm just preaching to the choir:embarassed:

[Monsieur Alphonse]

Since Rome you can use this "draw out" feature with multiple units. it is a very good feature to create very fast a new front line after redeploying your units.

[Reenk Roink]

Thanks for the link Craig. :bow:

[A Nerd]

I just hope they have some videos in the daytime soon. I am more interested in how the mechanics have improved vs. the graphical flash. I have a hard time noticing anything during the night battles.

[al Roumi]

Since Rome you can use this "draw out" feature with multiple units. it is a very good feature to create very fast a new front line after redeploying your units.

Although I always found it annoying that it would create a standard unit width, so if one unit had fewer men, the line would be thinner on its sector. Ideally, the line should drawn out to have standard depth, as that is (usualy) more important.

[caravel]

The fire arrows look a bit off. They seem weighted like heavier javelins or as if shot from ballistas. They also remind me of a bombardment by rocket artillery.

[Kagemusha]

The fire arrows look a bit off. They seem weighted like heavier javelins or as if shot from ballistas. They also remind me of a bombardment by rocket artillery.

I think this is only a alpha issue.Those models used for them and their effects are quite easy to mold. Though japanese arrows used in Yumi bow were and are rather long, but not that long.

[hoom]

Although I always found it annoying that it would create a standard unit width, so if one unit had fewer men, the line would be thinner on its sector. Ideally, the line should drawn out to have standard depth, as that is (usualy) more important. In Medieval (maybe VI?) they patched in a feature where you could use the other mouse button to switch between the two modes mid-drag.
It was awesome. Its one of the 'little things' that has been missing since & which makes the difference between a good game and an exceptional game.

ReluctantSamurai: hold ctrl & click on multiple units, then you can hold & drag. Has been that way since Shogun.

Obviously this video shows a visual triumph. So many very impressive touches both big & little.
But it'll all be a waste if the AI, unit balance & pathfinding isn't an equal triumph.

[antisocialmunky]

Can you guys get Sega to bundle this game with computer upgrades on Newegg or something? It looks llike many people would need it.

[Hooahguy]

Awesome vid, cant wait to play it!

[ReluctantSamurai]

ReluctantSamurai: hold ctrl & click on multiple units, then you can hold & drag. Has been that way since Shogun.

I've been playing Shoggie for 10 yrs. now, and never knew that. I've always done them one unit at a time:embarassed:

"Course I'm one of those idiots that never reads the manual (and I have the original printed one) but just dives in to learn the game-play:shame:

Thanks:bow:

[rory_20_uk]

Pretty. Oh, I'm sure. Lightening. Very nice.

AI. AI. AI. AI!!!!!!!

I'll forgive almost any graphical glitch now and again to play against the computer where the only challenge is not a variant of me vs numbers - be it free money to the AI, everyone vs the player or something else.

[Barkhorn1x]

This is really "the point" that we need to press in on with CA.

The idea that these games should have the close-up appeal of a first-person-shooter is so far off the mark for those who actually play them.

To be as positive as I can about it; a nice sales tool, but totally useless to the RTS gamer...

Hiya Maggy :bow:

Your point is spot on but the next CA vid will be designed to get this kind of response...Wow!!! Look how cool those indivdual samurai look!! Woot, woot, woot!!!

And we will ask - again - what about the AI? Can we see what it can actually do?

And an annoyed Kieran will reply; "The AI? Well, we've covered that repeatedly. AI for Shogun 2 is receiving a lot of development resource and attention. There will never be an AI that completely satisfies the needs of all players. Some want something easy that offers a minor challenge, others want to be roundly beaten in unforeseen ways for hundreds of hours of game play. What we're seeking to do this time around is to provide something solid, robust and most importantly, fun."

...but no vid will ever be available.

[Suraknar]

This was absolutelly marvelous!

I was hoping you would re-introduce Formations and posturing which affects the opponent and it seems like you did. I simply can't wait S2TW to hit the shelf, yet, don;t rush it either ;) It will surely be worth the wait!

Enjoyed the Style of the Video as well.

Some day battles without too much of a weather storm would be great too :)

[Daveybaby]

Although I always found it annoying that it would create a standard unit width, so if one unit had fewer men, the line would be thinner on its sector. Ideally, the line should drawn out to have standard depth, as that is (usualy) more important.
Amen to that, it's always bugged me.

[Prussian to the Iron]

ohemgee that was awesome.


hey check out at 3:53 a dude gets shot and knocked off his horse

[Orda Khan]

Sorry, Never liked night battle feature, nor flaming arrows. Please, bring back the unit banners, Shogun is one place where they are a must.

[Magyar Khan]

i agree with orda..... i can imagine night battles is nice for marketing but gamewise its not a big issue.....

gameplay should be the main focus.... and clear banners like in stw is a good way to start


when i look at the gameplay im sure it wont be as precise as in stw..... in stw i had the idea i was in full control but the video gives me not that same feeling... but its pre alpha... so who knows

[Kas]

I like the night battle feature...it's an option, so when you don't like it...don't use it.

Fond memories of heavy fog battles...:jester:

[Peasant Phill]

I assume/hope the battle was played in fast forward because it all got resolved very fast. The first encounter lasted mere seconds, the cavalry didn't plough through the archers but actually threw them off the hill and the it seemed as if the opposing force was already routing before the cavalry charged in.

I'm hesitant on S2TW until I see more footage.

Also, will weather have a significant effect again on battles?

[Gregoshi]

I assume/hope the battle was played in fast forward because it all got resolved very fast. The first encounter lasted mere seconds...
The main battle line was engaged the whole time the cavalry flank attacks, first on the right and then on the left, were developing. That wasn't fast at all.

[Wilbo]

As a huge fan of Shogun, I thought the video was wonderful! So, with weather, any chance that we will go back to seeing battles in heavy snow or fog!? They were SO atnospheric on Shogun!

Another hope I have is that we've gone back to four seasons in a year, so that I can choose my season of attack wisely and be punished when I don't think ahead - oops, winter!